Raven & the Peach

I don’t often feel inclined to rate restaurants but my recent visit warrants one. This is my second time at Raven & the Peach and each provided the same experience: polite and responsive COMPLEMENTARY valet; a prompt, warm greeting from the hostess; an offer to enjoy a cocktail and live music in the lounge area before being seated (my Manhattan was well made and liberally poured). Upon being seated, the waiter was very attentive and quickly responded to any needs or requests. We stared with lobster bisque and lobster ravioli. My wife and I each had espresso crusted steaks;22oz ribeye for me and a filet for her. Both were cooked perfectly! I highly recommend The mac and cheese with bacon dust as a side! For dessert, espresso and bananas foster spring rolls. My only disappointment of the night was learning that they removed the kettle corn crusted crab cakes from the menu. The dimly lit restaurant makes for an amazing date night!

Been here several times and the food is always great. I suggest steak! Their meats are perfectly tender. I love the atmosphere. It’s dark and romantic, but can be nice for a family dinner as well. I wouldn’t suggest young kids here though as it’s more fine dining. The service was great. Food was great. Highly suggest eating here!

Worst service. No bread. Wrong year bottle of wine. Cold food. Owner Richard suggested we GET A LIFE. Part of my life is fine dining. This wasn’t it.
PS. The valet lost our car, with the keys in it.

Wowza! Great atmosphere. Great food. Great experience. Nice décor with dim lighting helps set the mood. There’s plenty of space between tables so you don’t feel as if you’re eating with strangers. The staff intentionally serves slowly to allow patrons to enjoy their experience, but this does not mean slow service; staff is very attentive. Food was outstanding! Our table had the lobster bisque (amazing with lobster chunks), Caesar salad (small in size), filet mignon (perfect medium rare), sweet potatoes side (too sweet with all those marshmallows), delmonico rib eye (again, perfect medium rare and huge!) covered in the mushroom side, and we ended with Gelato combo (creamy and delish). Had a great experience with great service and we’ll definitely be back.

A group of us went there for a celebration. It was very nice that the staff sent over champagne as a congratulations to the happy couple for their anniversary. However, the waiter informed us they were OUT OF CHICKEN. So nothing on the menu was to be chosen if it contains chicken. The drinks were ordered and 15 minutes later I had to remind the waiter he still hadn’t brought me my drink. The service was sub par, but the food was delicious. How can a restaurant on a Saturday night run out of chicken by 7pm?! Ridiculous! Hence the 2 stars.

Is this place for real?
Overall, if you would like to get ripped off and have a 5 hour dinner due to poor service this is the place to go. As result we were told we would have free dessert… They still charged us.
Food was horrible. Cheap. Portions small and pricey. I got the salmon, overcooked and fishy, couldn’t eat it. The scallops were salty. The shrimp pasta was a joke. The beet salad had three small salty wedges of a beet. Cutting corners anywhere they can.
Service was also a joke. Took about an hour to order. Plus another hour to get our food. And an additional hour for dessert. We were there for my mom’s birthday and asked for a candle with her desert. No candle, waiter didn’t check in until we were done. It was a good laugh to be honest… Along with the decorating!

Went for dinner Valentine’s Day. Food was well done as usual. Waited about 10 minutes to be seated which is ok. We have been there many times before. This time the service was not as good as usual maybe because it was Valentine’s Day. Would go back to give it another chance.
Bill S.

I went to the Raven and the peach on Friday night with my wife, This was probably our 5^th visit this year, We had shrimp from the raw bar which were fresh and tasty, we spilt the wedge salad the lettuce was crispy and the dressing was perfect, I enjoy the steak house menu, always order from this menu, had the 20 oz cowboy steak medium which was yum, my wife enjoyed her salmon, I like the décor, wife thinks its outdated, had a bottle of Mondovi Oakville, chef is pro. will return soon

Considering that it was Thanksgiving and most places are short staffed, they were the exception. Full wait staff and the service was good. The menu was short, but had adequate choices. Food was good well, prepared and attractively presented .
I want to go back for a full menu meal.

Having just moved into the Fair Haven/​Rumson NJ area, we looked forward to a nice dinner out locally. We were given several names but chose the nearest restaurant to our home. This was a mistake.
The Raven & the Peach could really use a reset when it comes to how a high restaurant serves its customers. Here is a list of some of the experiences that were sub-​par at the Raven’s price point:
1. Three wine glasses were sent back for being lipstick stained. Really?! Someone isn’t checking the glasses before they leave the kitchen?
2. We were given menus with the New Jersey Restaurant specials still inside even though those menu options were only good to 7pm. As a result, the server had to go around the table and collect each of the printouts.
3. There were two set of menus — one was the Classic menu and the other was the steak house menu. The frustrating thing here was that several of the menu options were repeated in the menus so you find yourself reading the same menu item twice.
4. We asked for bread and got a basket of three slices of the same bread. It was pretty apparent we got some other tables leftovers because later, during the meal, we got another bread basket which had several different types of bread.
5. Most of table ordered from the steak house menu. A top-​notch restaurant will typically serve the sides (cream spinach, potatoes, etc.) at the same time the steaks are brought to the table. In the Raven’s case, sides are brought out 5 to 10 after the steaks. Ugh!
Sadly, the food was quite good and the ambience at the Raven is quite special — It has a Casablanca style of elegance to it.
We will chose to drive a bit more next time to dine at more consistent restaurant.

The staff is super nice and the chef in the tea room is AMAZING! Everything is always cooked to perfection and I’m bringing all my friends for lunch. They’re soups are always delicious.

Overall very bad experience and food. Price was over $ 80 per person without alcohol and absolutely not worth it.
Appetizers were decent, but they made the wrong dish for 1 of the 3 we ordered. I don’t know how that happened since we were the only ones dining at the time.
Drinks — they used club soda instead of tonic in a vodka tonic drink. Steak was over cooked, over a medium instead of medium rare.
Mushrooms were salty and overpowered steak served on top.
Salmon and chicken were way over cooked and tough.
Lobster did not taste good at all, it was fishy tasting rather than sweet and salty.
Desert took over 30 minutes to make, so we canceled it.
Expresso — Cold
First and last time there.

Food good but not great. Bar service poor. Impress your friends but better for lunch

I am not a big spender, but when I do splurge, I expect a certain level of hospitality. Please do not think I am one of THOSE customers that fusses about everything and makes a scene, I am often the one who gives places the most benefit of the doubt. And none of what I am going to write was irritating enough to say something to management, it was just the sum of our whole night. But here is what I experienced…
My business partner and I took her mother and my husband out for our annual Business Christmas dinner (we always do this well after the holiday rush has slowed down so we can enjoy it thoroughly). We were seated at a smaller square table that we immediately felt was a little too squished in with other tables. Because the chairs do not glide on the carpeting, it was an effort to get our chairs in properly, and very difficult for my business partner’s 90 year old mother. It was so cramped that I found it difficult to hear my partner’s mother at times, because the guests’ conversations drifted in.
It took longer than I expected for anyone to come and even pour water, let alone the menus, and the restaurant, though nicely decorated and featuring live music, was extremely dim. We finally got the menus and ordered wine and cocktails. I was not at all impressed with the waiter reaching across the table to serve things, often brushing his tie on me or his arm being inches from my face and forcing me to back up. In this type of place it is usual for servers to go around to the side of the person they are serving rather than reaching.
The wine was apparently very good, and my gin and tonic was excellent, but my husband’s Long Island Iced Tea was pretty bad. It was far more bitter than it should have been, and though he loves them, he ended up giving me the second half of the drink because he was unhappy with it.
The appetizer my partner got was the sushi dish, she absolutely loved it. Her mother and I both got the lobster bisque, which was outstanding, but I was a little disappointed with the portion for the charge. Husband got the shrimp and felt it was ok. I tend not to give his opinion of seafood a lot of weight though, as he is from the gulf shore region and is used to extremely high quality, fresh seafood, and the closest he got to that was on a trip to Boston up here in the NE.
For dinner, my husband and I got the filet mignon, which I thought was outstanding, my husband thought was very good but was tempted to ask for A1 just for a little kick. Business partner got the duck and her mother got the scallops, both they thought were very good.
Another disappointing part was when being served, it was in the «roll call» style — «who had the shrimp? who had the soup?» In a place such as this, I again would have expected the server to know where food was being placed. Additionally, because we were at a smaller table, the empty dishes and extra items really needed to be removed quickly to make room for things, and I found myself shifting things around and even stacking empty plateware just to make room myself.
Desserts and coffee were ordered, no issues, very tasty although I was surprised the cappucinos were in smaller coffee cups, usually they are in slightly larger round mugs.
When I left the table to use the ladies room, I brought my partner’s mother with me, and was very surprised to see that in such a dimly lit place, I found that the edge of the floor just before the first step down to where the ladies room was had a strip of black in the carpeting. This may not sound very significant, but when you have a 90 year old woman without sure footing, bad lighting, and a black strip on the floor, I could absolutely see someone not being able to judge the step right and taking a tumble.
Please know that our servers were incredibly pleasant and responsive when we asked for things.
Again, none of this individually was enough to say something to management, but overall it left us feeling like we didn’t get our money’s worth. It is unlikely we’ll dine there again.

The food was good. The establishment and waiter were nice. The portions were healthy but I did have to stop at another location after eating there. If you are looking for gourmet food and a quiet atmosphere, come but if you are looking to be full and stuff, like most Americans like to be, I would suggest another restaurant.

Raven & The Peach is always a fixture in the community. A special place for the holidays and the rest of the year. We took the in-​laws there for a special occasion and the staff could not have been more delightful and attentive. Food good and cocktails satisfying. Take a date with your special someone.

Had an exceptional dinner at the Raven and the Peach the other night. I can’t believe we’ve never eaten here before. We first had cocktails at the bar and were most impressed with their mixologist. He made us one of his signature cocktails that certainly started the evening off right. Our server was very responsive and seemed to always be available when needed. My steak was cooked to perfection and my wife’s salmon was moist and just underdone (exactly like she requested). The chocolate-​chocolate something we shared perfectly complimented my glass to 20 year old Tawny Port and her Latte. We will definitely be back.

We went here for a more upscale dinner and upon entering the building were not surprised at the décor and the comfortable seating. The booths were very spacious and give the opportunity to sit next to whoever you’re with which we really liked. The menu is large enough without being overwhelming and it also includes an array of add-​on items such as sauces and foie gras for your entrees.
The hostess was very nice, kind of hippy-​ish and kept talking about aura and how happy she was to see us. whatever. Her sister happened to be our server and she was great although we did notice this one Woody Harrelson look-​alike who was absolutely blowing lines in the kitchen in between tables by the way he was acting. Again, no harm done so we ended up ordering the steak tartare which actually was not on the menu but since we had seen it online, was able to be made for us which was very hospitable of the chef. The app was perfectly done.
Kim got a sirloin steak and broccoli rabe, I got this ribeye monstrosity with mashed potatoes and we ordered truffle/​lobster mac n cheese as a side. Her sirloin was definitely not steakhouse quality but she liked it which is all that matters. My ribeye was also not prime or angus or aged in any kind of way but was cooked perfectly mid-​rare so whatever. The lobster mac and cheese was missing salt. It tasted of lobster since the chef used a great stock but did not actually have any lobster in it. There was also no truffle going on at all.
Overall, I do feel as though the excellent service really made up for anything which may have been lacking in the back of the house. Also, it should be noted that we went here on a Monday which means the top talent on the staff was probably enjoying a day off as I was, being that I am a chef by trade also. I imagine any inconsistencies I experienced are not present on the weekends. We highly recommend the Raven and the Peach.

I want to first mention that we ate here for my husband’s work party and it was buffet style so I know that could have had an effect on our experience. The food we got was not very good. The pasta was over cooked, the salmon was extremely fishy and steamed vegetables were under cooked. Though the staff was polite the service was horrendous. The tables had nothing on them, no silverware, salt, pepper or even glasses of water. Once dessert came out we had to ask a few times for spoons, coffee stirrers and hot water for the tea. We had high hopes when we walked in because the place is gorgeous but it sure did fall flat for us. I would like to try this place again for a seat down dinner because like I said I do think serving food buffet style can make a difference. If we ever go back I will update this review.

Instead of going to Nicholas like we do every year for our wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to go to Raven & the Peach. Let me start by saying that the woman who took my reservation over the phone was extremely personable and friendly; I told her my husband and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary as well as celebrating my being pregnant with our second child.
We were politely greeted and seated promptly when we arrived for our reservation. Thumbs up for valet parking! What a lovely restaurant inside. With the different color blues and all the wood, we thought it would be complete with a large wooden and golden ships wheel in the center of the restaurant — very «yacht club-​ish». Live piano music was delightful.
Food and service were both spectacular. I’m sorry to say I cannot give the wine or cocktail list a rating since I’m pregnant and did not get to experience that, but the ginger ale rocked — ha. We started off with lobster bisque and the open faced seafood ravioli; both were fantastic. My husband had the trio of filet, duck and lamb accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes. His dish had a delicious rich sauce which was a mix of au jus, onion, mushroom and bacon. I enjoyed the smaller filet of beef accompanied by mashed potatoes and we added an extra side which was the truffle lobster macaroni and cheese. It was amazing, very mild and the crunch on top was great. We shared the chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was tasty.
We were extremely pleased when the hostess came around during the halfway point of our meal to congratulate us on our anniversary — that was a very nice touch. We would most definitely come back to Raven and the Peach. Sitting outside would be lovely on a summer evening.